Rustler

A lot of games rely on things like deep storytelling or innovative gameplay to grab hold of a player's attention. Rustler is far on the other end of that spectrum, relying instead on crude humor, cheesy antics, and random pop culture references to grab hold of something entirely different. The game relishes its raunchiness, taking almost every opportunity to crack some sort of lewd joke or over-the-top absurdity. Steal a horse and you're almost instantly set upon by authorities, complete with horses that inexplicably come complete with flashing lights. Also, the game features so many blatant references to Monty Python, such as the unexpected nature of the Spanish Inquisition and the durability of a certain dismembered Black Knight, you'd almost be forgiven for thinking it's a licensed product. In fact, the game liberally "borrows," or more accurately blatantly swipes, almost everything from somewhere else, whether it's the obvious Grand Theft Auto gameplay or the art direction and character design lifted from another controversial Rockstar Games hit, Bully.

A lot of the faults in the storytelling of Rustler could be forgiven if the gameplay was polished up. Unfortunately, while it might look pretty good and be built on the framework (or at least a reasonable facsimile) of the original Grand Theft Auto game, the controls fail to live up to that legacy. Moving on foot takes forever, but still feels safer than trying to ride a horse or steal a wagon. Maneuvering in a vehicle feels sluggish and almost unresponsive. And if you happen to find your riding groove for a bit, it's quickly shattered by some random non-player character stepping in your way and getting trampled to death, often leading to yet another police chase. There lies the other problem with Rustler. It's just so repetitive. Sure, it's good for a few laughs at the start, but the jokes are only funny for so long and any replay value falls off soon after.